/N: Finally I have the net back. I live in China at the moment and we lost the internet for like four days, I tell you it was the longest four days ever not being able to update or read any fics.
Enjoy!
CH 5: Hate is Such an Ugly Word
The first few months had passed relatively fast for the occupants of the heads 'house' if you will. They'd settled into a routine albeit for Hermione and Dain not without questions from their friends and classmates. Ron wouldn't let up on Hermione as to why she couldn't just continue her classes with Harry and him. He'd let up on Harry as soon as Harry told him he was having private lessons for the same thing as last time. Although Ron wanted to know more he never questioned it after he was told from Harry that he really wasn't allowed to talk about it. Hermione had told him that because she was a head and because of her responsibilities, she and the head boy had their own timetable but Ron being Ron had to whine and carry on, he was like a dog with a bone and just wouldn't let it go. Really, he was so dense sometimes and the way he would go on and on about some things really did irritate her, he really could be annoying, she really wondered what she had seen in him when she'd had that crush on him. They finally started to go out with each other at the end of last year after Dumbledore's death, but after a couple of months she broke it off, he really just got too much to handle. Hermione being the independent woman she is and being asked what her every move is, what she is doing etc was driving her nuts, she'd never realised just how clingy the boy was and decided to revert back to just being friends saying that it just didn't feel right, that he was more like a brother after so long. Thinking about it now it was the truth, even if it wasn't entirely the truth then.
So here Hermione was in the dining hall for breakfast and once again her temper was on the verge of exploding, he never really could read her. She was tuning out most of what he was saying only getting the occasional snippets "…just not fair, I mean I have no–one to sit with and…" 'Yeah right, more like no-one to copy from' Hermione thought angrily, "Ron" she interrupted him "…let it go you have Harry in your classes, you just want me there to take the damn notes so you can copy from me" she replied scathingly. Ron looked taken aback for a moment but then continued, "Well you're never around either, I never see you, what about us?" he said before realising what he'd just said. Hermione stood up anger in her eyes, he really was becoming too much. "There is no us and there never will be Ron...," she yelled at him, "your going out with the head boy aren't you that's what you're hiding isn't it?" Ron retorted furiously "I'm not hiding anything Ron, I'm not dating Dain either. I'm around when I can be, the world doesn't revolve around you and if you keep this up then you'll see even less of me because quite frankly I've had enough" she retorted before storming off to the astounded stares of students and professors alike. Ron looked at Harry "what did I do? There's obviously something wrong with her, maybe it's that time of the month" he sniggered. Harry looked at him and shook his head "you really have no idea do you Ron?" he asked, "every time you've seen her you've been on about the same thing, I mean we've been doing this for how long? Two months or so now, you just need to accept it." implored Harry. "Come on we've got History of Magic" they both got up leaving the hall.
When Hermione stormed from the dinning hall, she wasn't sure were she was going to head to, all she knew was that she needed to cool down. The library would normally be her refuge but she felt that it would just make her feel constrained, she needed air so she headed to the lake, walking out through the great oak doors she was hit by a brisk wind, heading down to the lake it wouldn't take long for her to cool down, temporarily at least. She wouldn't go as far as to say she hated Ron but she hated what he was like, she's an independent person for merlins sake, NOT a possession which Ron seems to consistently forget. 'He's so jealous of any other guy Ī spend time with; well it's obviously he's still in love me, so what am Ī going to do about him' she cogitated. Shaking her head she stopped and sat by the lake to reflect on the year so far.
Dain's housemates and friends only asked once about the reason for not attending classes and accepted it without question. The only real problem he had was Ron Weasley who was now confronting him while he was attempting to return to the heads House. Everyone in the Great Hall had seen the explosion between the head girl and her friend during breakfast and he was going back to their house to see if she was all right. Ron however had stopped him wanting to know about him going out with the head girl. Ron had been livid when he accused him, but livid wouldn't cover it when Dain had said "I used to go out with her last year actually, but now we're just friends, you can't dictate who she dates Weasley, she's not yours to own." Dain went to turn away from Ron before turning back "Oh and 15 points from Gryffindor for your attitude towards the head boy, I suggest you go back to your house and think things over Weasley, you could loose Hermione as a friend if you're not careful" he warned and turned going to the heads house.
Back in the heads lounge Dain called out to Hermione even knocking on her door only to get no reply. He wondered if maybe she went to the library but knew when she was this livid she would find the library claustrophobic so she'd probably headed elsewhere he'd just have to wait for her return. Dain sat down pondering Hermione and what had just happened when Draco came into the lounge from their dorm room "she's not here thank Merlin" he said with distain sitting down on the couch.
"Why do you hate her so much Malfoy, for that matter why do you hate all three, make that four of them" asked Dain,
"Four of them?" Malfoy questioned,
"Yes, four of them; Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny" answered Dain.
Malfoy sat and appeared to think before answering arrogantly "well you're a pureblood you should know"
Dain just shook his head looking sadly at Malfoy and said "true I am a pureblood, but I have never believed or understood this pureblood nonsense that pretty much all you Slytherins go on with, I mean do you really believe that you are better just because you are a pureblood?"
Malfoy say there and just shrugged his shoulders
Dain continued"….besides the blood thing what makes them so different? The Weasleys are purebloods the same as you and I, they are not well off like many but then there also just as many pureblood families that aren't" Dain sighed going on "….there are plenty of other witches and wizards around this school that are the same as the trio as far as stature, being half bloods or muggleborn's but you only seem to harass those four, so why is it? You really need to think about it"
Malfoy sat there with a scowl on his face, contemplating on how to respond to this 'Dain did have a point about him only harassing the four of them' he thought before responding "where should I start? The Weasel laughed at my name the first day of school, he's poor, wears tatty clothes and walks around the school with the other two like he's better than everyone else, the she Weasel well she's related to the other so why not "
"...and you never did walk around like you were better? Interjected Daine
"No, I didn't!" sounded an indignant Malfoy
"If that's what you believe, you may not be able to do it this year but you most certainly have been doing that for the past six years, as for your reasons for hating Ron and his sister Ginny they really aren't just a viable, just because his family doesn't have as much money as yours does to buy him expensive clothes, he is rich in other ways"
Malfoy scoffed at such a ludicrous idea "Oh yeh, how?"
Dain smiled and responded with a slight laugh in his voice "He's rich in what his large family has to offer; they're loving, affectionate, supportive, understanding, caring, it's a family of warmth, they're accepting of people whoever they are, there's so much to that family that even I can say I'm jealous of" Dain paused "as for the laughing at your name well we were all only eleven then, and since when did a laugh become something worth hating someone over?"
Malfoy snorted at this. "Yeah right rich my arse"
"You're still thinking in monetary and materialistic that's not what I'm talking about, wealth can be viewed in love, companionship and support and so much more and those that have it are much richer for it because they're supporting and forgiving."
"What about the fact that they're blood traitors then?" Malfoy replied.
"What you figure that because they don't just stick to purebloods they're blood traitors? Think about it Malfoy how many purebloods are related, if you have a good look at your family tree you'll probably find that you're related to one family or another, how many of those end up marrying? Don't you find it just a little disturbing that you could end up married to someone you're related to, because Ī know Ī do? While my family may prefer me to marry another pureblood if a suitable match that is not related can't be found then next they'd prefer a half blood then a muggle born, of course if Ī was to say that Ī had chosen a muggle born they would not disown me" Dain finished. "So that's the Weasleys what about Potter and Hermione then?"
"Potter thinks he's everything, he refused to be friends when Ī offered it to him and…."
"That was when we were like what eleven again? That was so long ago."
"He thinks he's better than everyone as well and what about his need to always have all the attention? He's always broken rules and Dumbledore let him get away with it, just because he's the 'boy who lived!' who cares?"
"Sounds to me more like jealousy there Malfoy, Harry really isn't that bad if you get to know him, Ī don't think he's always trying to get attention or that he thinks he's better than everyone else. As for him breaking rules and getting away with it, well you've done your fare share of that too so Ī wouldn't be complain if Ī was you." Dain once again replied.
"It's not jealousy," Malfoy grumbled 'then maybe he might be a little right there' he thought to himself 'not that I'll admit it to anyone'.
"Ok so that's two people or say three that really you have no real excuse for hating I mean look if you're going to side with the light you might as well face facts, so that leaves us with dear Hermione" Dain said smiling.
Draco furrowed his brow "what's there to say, oooh too much..." he replied sarcastically "…where should I star; she's a know it all; a suck up; a goody two shoes; she thinks she's the best because she's friends with Potter; she's churlish and obnoxious; anything else hmm let me see, oh yeah she's a mudblood, that enough reason for you?" Draco asked now raising his eyebrows as if to ask lets see how you answer those reasons.
Dain looked at him and laughed, "You're kidding me right Malfoy, and once again you've shown your ignorance. Yes, Hermione is smart there is nothing wrong with that, some guys like to date someone with brains as opposed to sawdust. She isn't a suck up as you so kindly put it, the professors like her because she shows an interest, she's not the only one who they treat like that, there is also quite a few of us Ravenclaws as well and it's not as if you haven't done your far share of sucking up to a particular professor now is it? Goody two shoes you say, well you really don't know her at all," Dain said with a grin on his face "let's just say she's good but not in the way many people think"
Draco looked at Dain with astonishment he really didn't know what to say to that.
"As for being Potters best friend it doesn't make a difference to her. How would you even know if she's ill-bred or not like I've already said you don't know her at all and she is far from offensive and she is liked by many, more than she realises to if you get my drift. Finally, you've come back to the blood thing again and like I said before about the Weasleys purebloods are going to have to move outside of their blood blindness unless you all want to be inbreeds, Merlin knows the sort of problems you'll have then. It's better to have someone magical than have someone not. I know my parents wouldn't approve of a muggle if they had no magic. Once again, you've not given me one good reason to hate her or any of them. You sound once again more jealous of her because deep down you know she's better than you."
Annoyed by this Malfoy started to answer, "Well my father…"
Shaking his head Dain said, "You have your own brain don't you? You can think for your self can't you? I mean if the things that happened at the end of last year with Dumbledore hadn't happened, then you and I both know it would be you sitting here as head boy and not me"
Malfoy looked slightly smug at this last statement then sadly nodded his head.
"Ī know you're not stupid Malfoy and you really can't expect to blame what you did on your father, after all when it comes down to it, you are the one who still needs to make the choices for yourself"
"Ok, I agree with you there" Malfoy replied "but I also felt as though Ī had no choice, I know my father and I know the consequences of disobedience, I'm not saying that is an excuse, I guess I could have told someone and got help but then I really didn't know that, that wasn't how all families were! Ī mean all the pureblood families I've been in contact with growing up were all the same Death-Eaters, they treated their families how my father treated his"
"Okay Ī guess Ī can understand where you're coming from Malfoy but really you should think about what we've talked about. Don't close yourself off to changes you might just miss out on something good as a result"
Hermione walked in through the portrait at that moment thus the boys ceased their conversation. Hermione had now cooled down somewhat but still decided to avoid Ron at all costs. She came in and plonked herself on one of the armchairs looking distracted, so Dain decided to see if she wanted to talk. "Hermione how are you?"
She looked at him as if to ask why.
"Ī was in the Great Hall at breakfast when you had your little encounter with Ron"
"Oh" was all she said.
"Yeah, he confronted me when Ī was on my way back up here and had a go about me dating you…" Dain said pausing, he wasn't sure if now was a good time to let her know that Ron now knows that they dated.
"He what! that bloody arse, Ī won't say Ī hate him but if he doesn't lay off Ī just may end up that way, well maybe not but Ī hate the way he carries on" she continued angrily.
"That's not all…" Dain continued "… Ī kind of told him we dated last year" he waited for her to explode at him.
"Really what was his reaction to that?" she giggled.
Dain surprised at her reaction "I'm not too sure, he looked pretty shocked but Ī didn't give him a chance to rebut, Ī just left" he said shrugging.
Laughing Hermione got up and walked over to Dain, sitting next to him she gave him a hug "Well Ī guess I'll be avoiding him a bit more then won't Ī, the companies better here anyway" she said winking at him.
Draco just watched the whole scene that had unfolded before him awe, he wondered what had happened down in the Great Hall, he really did miss being part of the school sometimes; he missed out on all the gossip and fights that took place. Not that he was a gossip or listened to it, well maybe sometimes he did but don't tell anybody. It was fun to see the fights though, he was rather lacking in that sort of entertainment here.
Thanks for reading and reviewing.
